Did You Ever Grow Anything in the Garden of Your Mind?

I have to say, Mr. Rogers kind of freaks me out, and this video re-mix looks like it could have been made by David Lynch. That being said, I still think it is awesome. The video went live yesterday – or maybe it was today – and is already a youtube sensation. By all internet accounts that I could see, Mr Rodgers was a kindly, benevolent man, who would not take countenance for condescension towards children, and for that, he was a unique individual. Check out the wikipedia entry – this last paragraph, on his 1997 Emmy award acceptance, is amazing:

“Mister Rogers went onstage to accept the award — and there, in front of all the soap opera stars and talk show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you courtney thorne smith pokies just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Ten seconds of silence.”

And then he lifted his wrist, looked at the audience, looked at his watch, and said, “I’ll watch the time.” There was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn’t kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch, but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked. And so they did. One second, two seconds, three seconds — and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier. And Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said softly “May God be with you,” to all his vanquished children.”